Homemade Pastrami on Rye Sandwich
With this recipe, you'll learn to turn basic store-bought corned beef into a peppery, spice-crusted pastrami you can't get outside of a big city deli. This recipe breaks down the steps and process to give you a juicy, tender, well-crafted NYC-style pastrami on rye at home.
Ingredients
For the Pastrami
- 5 lb corned beef brisket flat, (I used 2 pieces for my recipe, but 1 larger piece will also work)
- 30 g whole black peppercorns
- 30 g whole coriander seeds
- 30 g granulated sugar
- 5 g garlic powder
- 2 g chili flakes
To Assemble the Sandwich
- Jewish caraway rye bread
- spicy brown mustard
Instructions
- To prep the beef, rinse the corned beef under cold water to remove excess brine. Pat it aggressively with paper towels until completely dry.
- Toast peppercorns and coriander in a dry pan over medium heat for 3–4 minutes until fragrant and lightly smoking. Cool slightly, then grind to a medium-coarse texture (not a powder).
- Mix the toasted spices with the sugar, garlic powder, and chili flakes.
- Press the spice blend firmly into all sides of the meat until fully coated.
- Place meat on a wire rack over a tray. Refrigerate uncovered for 8–24 hours to allow the surface to dry (crucial for smoke adhesion).
- Set up your grill for indirect heat with a smoker box directly on top of the active burner over high heat. Once the smoke starts rolling, reduce heat to med-high, add the pastrami to grill grates on the inactive side of the grill and smoke it for 90 minutes, replacing wood chips every 30 minutes. Keep the lid closed as much as possible and aim to keep grill temperature between 225-250°F (110°C). Remove pastrami when the bark is deep mahogany and dry to the touch.
- Wrap the meat in a double layer of foil and place it on a rack in a roasting pan. Roast at 300°F (150°C) until the internal temperature hits 200–205°F. At that point, continue cooking for another 90–120 minutes until tender and pull-apart, but not fall-apart.
- Let the meat rest in the foil for at least 45 minutes. Slice the pastrami 1/4-inch thick against the grain and serve on a nice jewish rye style bread with plenty of spicy brown mustard on both sides. You want at least a 4 to 1 meat to bread ratio.
For even better texture and flavor, allow the meat to come to room temperature after oven-roasting then refrigerate overnight. Reheat it in the oven at 350°F (175°C) until the internal temp reaches 135°F (55°C), then slice it and make your sandwiches.
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